Unprecedented Scottish megafire leads to widespread peat carbon losses

Unprecedented Scottish megafire leads to widespread peat carbon losses | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Brief Communication Unprecedented Scottish megafire leads to widespread peat carbon losses Adam Pellegrini, Johanna Schoenecker, Martin Baur, Juliana Kohli, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7761772/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Drier and warmer climates have allowed fires to increasingly burn carbon-dense peatland ecosystems. Here, we document the first megafire in the United Kingdom, which spread rapidly and burned severely across peatlands in Scotland with anomalously low soil moisture, emitting 39,338MgC (25,250–64,565MgC). Peat combustion contributed 85% of total emissions, suggesting drier climates increase fire emissions from peat, which are functionally irrecoverable on end-of-century timescales most relevant to climate change mitigation. Earth and environmental sciences/Natural hazards Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Earth and environmental sciences/Biogeochemistry/Carbon cycle Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Fire ecology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7761772","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Brief Communication","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":550681948,"identity":"449d5317-e3a8-450d-a920-84bf5cb11191","order_by":0,"name":"Adam 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